The First Day
by Dusty Lightbulb
Summary: ** Disclaimer: I haven't written in a while! ** El keeps a low profile as part of the plan. After a year, she begins to transition to public life, but she has trouble fitting in at school.


Hopper's truck pulls up to the school. He looks at Eleven, as she stares at the entrance. She watches all the students walk by. Her hair has grown out to her shoulders. She looks down at her lap as she touches the clip in her hair.

"Hey kid, you don't have to do this if you're not ready. We can wait."

She looks back at the school. "No."

They sit in silence for another minute. She looks over at him. "3:15?"

"3:15."

El looks down again. She wants to make him promise, but knows how that turns out. As she opens the door she calls out, "remember, no powers!"

"Ok." She turns and walks towards the door and the students start to stare. She continues to walk slow, looking in the crowds for Mike. He's nowhere to be found.

As she walks down the main hall she hears her name. "El!...I mean… Jane!" It's Mike. She smiles as he walks up to her for a long hug. "Ready for class?"

"Ready." They join the rest – Dustin, Lucas and Will.

As they walk down the hall, one of the older kids calls out to Will. "Hey Zombie freak!" They all turn and watch a group of them walk up to him and push him against the lockers. "Still trying to fit in?" They don't notice El in the group.

El clenches her fist. As the rest of the group shout to Will to ignore him and walk away, Mike sees El get angry and tense. "El," he whispers, "it's ok. Don't do it."

"Stop." El's chin lowers as her eyebrows lower. Some of the other students stop and form a circle. They start whispering – she's the girl that made Mike fly, broke an arm and makes people piss their pants!

Some of the older kids freeze. One, Tyler, seems unperturbed. "… or what? You're going to do one of your little magic tricks in here? You're going to have Will fly too?" His sarcastic remarks anger her more.

"Dude, let's just go!" Tyler's friend, Mark snaps. "She looks pissed, man, she doesn't just make people fly, don't you remember the assembly last year?"

Dustin gets excited. "Yeah, you forgot how crazy our friend is! She's awesome and she'll prove it if you don't stop!"

El's facial expression doesn't change. She continues to eye Tyler as he swats at her, "whatever weirdo, you're lucky it's time for class." The crowd disperses. Will looks over at El, "thanks."

As El smiles back, she closes her eyes – another flashback. Axel has his knife out, leaning towards her. He starts to freak out as he sees the imaginary spiders. Kali appears. She focuses on her face as she talks to Axel. She studies Kali's dark and powerful eyes as her group watches her tease Axel.

Back at school, her mood goes from tense to melancholic. "Sister," she whispers. The boys look at each other, confused.

"Sister? El?... El… El!" Mike shakes her. "El, we have to go. Can you hear me?"

El's eyes widen. "Mike!" She looks at him. "Ready."

After class, the boys head outside. El tells Mike she'll catch up, she's going to the bathroom. When she comes out, she looks around. No one is there. "Mike?"

"Well, well, look who's all by herself." It's Tyler. El just looks at him, as he walks in circles around her. "The rest of the circus isn't here now."

"Stop."

"Do you know how to talk?" He gives her a push. She moves back, afraid of using her anger against him. It starts - a quick flash of Kali looking at her as she reaches out to the train car. She shakes her head,

"Stop!" She says louder. Her hands form a fist again. Kali's face reappears. She hears her pain in her voice: "I want you to find something from your life, something that angers you. Now channel it. Dig deeper." She looks around, still just the two of them. They're alone. She starts breathing heavy, her chin lowers again.

"'I'm not afraid of you. You might have magic tricks but that doesn't scare me. What are you going to do? Huh? You're still a freak!"

She starts to shout "stop!" She closes her eyes and sees Kali again. "Dig deeper."

Tyler laughs and pushes her again. She screeches at the top of her lungs "STOP IT!" Tyler flies back, the ground starts to crack open, as if there were an earthquake. She stands there, breathing heavy with her eyes closed. She sees Kali, smiling. She opens her eyes. Mike and the crew run to her.

"Are you ok?"

El starts to cry. "I'm sorry. I tried."

"It's ok! It's ok, El." Tyler gains consciousness. He gets up sees them standing together watching him. He says nothing. He runs.

"That was awesome! I was hoping Tyler got a taste!" Dustin starts pacing and laughing. "I wish I got to see it myself."

Mike looks over at El. "You can't keep doing that. If you draw attention, the bad men will know. I don't want to lose you."

El looks down. She knows. Hopper will be mad. She knew she couldn't promise, she doesn't know how to control her powers when she gets angry. "I know." She leans on Mike's shoulder as they walk together back to the school. Maybe this time, she won't get in trouble at school.


End file.
